Mozambique: Disinformation about cholera leads to destruction in Nampula
Photo: Lusa
The United Nations has increased to $300 million (€265 million) from $200 million the funds assigned to aid those affected by Cyclone Idai in central Mozambique, including rebuilding infrastructure, a senior official announced on Thursday.
Ahunna Eziakonwa, the assistant administrator and director of the Africa regional bureau of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), who is currently visiting Mozambique, said that the extent of the destruction caused by Idai and resulting floods require the mobilisation of resources on a major scale.
“When this phenomenon struck Mozambique, we launched an emergency call for humanitarian support which, however, has been revised from 200 million to 300 million” dollars, Eziakonwa told reporters after a meeting with Mozambique’s president, Filipe Nyusi.
The UN has already disbursed 20% of the original funds in cash and in kind, channelling it above all into emergency humanitarian assistance to those affected.
Eziakonwa said the UN aid is being deployed on the one hand in search and rescue operations and food distribution, the latter through the World Food Programme, and on the other in water supply and sanitation to stem an outbreak of cholera.
Cyclone Idai hit central Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe on 14 March. In Mozambique, it claimed 602 lives and left 1,641 injured, with more than 1.5 million people affected, according to the latest official tally.
Mozambique’s Ministry of Health on Tuesday announced the seventh death from cholera since Idai swept through.
I just visited #Beira, the city hardest hit by #CycloneIdai. The government’s response has been essential in restoring critical logistics and networks. I am impressed by the local communities’ resilience & determination to rebuild their lives and livelihoods. pic.twitter.com/YyuU7rLqtf
— Ahunna Eziakonwa (@ahunnaeziakonwa) April 10, 2019
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